Archived Discussion

Having lasted for twenty-five years, the classic series of Doctor Who was always going to face this problem; the producers in the eighties, however, didn't exactly help matters by Pandering to the Base with return appearances from characters who hadn't been seen in ten years and sequels to stories that hadn't been shown for twenty years, assuming that everyone who was watching was going to know exactly what was going on. For obvious reasons, the ratings plummetted and it was eventually taken off the air. The new series, as a continuation of the old, also faces this problem, but averts it by focusing more on its new continuity and treating references to the old series in a very subtle and easy-to-cope-with fashion.

Too much continuity may have contributed to the original's cancellation, but labeling it as the main cause is overly simplistic.

Doctor Nemesis: It might not have been the only reason, but it's often blamed as a contributing factor. I think it's worth mentioning on that level at least.
Mark Z: Taking this out:

Fighting Games quickly suffered from this, after the boom caused by Street Fighter II. After a few years, certain tricks, moves, and knowledge were effectively taken for granted, making it hard for new players to get into the game.

Broad generalizations about an entire genre are not examples. Please be more specific.

Fast Eddie: Pulled Natter with bonus spoiler font. Seems like the way to avoid this is to just not use rhetorical questions, especially in topics that will attract younger tropers.
Western Animation

Avatar: Explain why Zuko has joined the Gaang without summarizing all three seasons and the backstories of at least three characters, I double dare you.

Zuko was the prince of an evil nation who joined the Hero's Nakama because he realized it was his destiny and the main character was the one who was going to save the world. There.

Why is there even a mention of any Manga on this page? Continuity lockout should be irrelevant for what is generally known as a long-form story medium, and this troper knows of NOBODY who just decides to start reading a manga at volume 7 if they've never seen or heard of it before.

Because of how it's distributed in Japan. The overwhelming majority of manga is sold in anthology comics, which are intended to be disposable; you buy them at the train station, read them on your journey, and dump them when you get there. Only a small number of very popular ones get turned into tankobon. Hence, for the most part, there are problems with jumping in right at the middle.

This troper has told people not to bother playing Metal Gear Solid 4 if they hadn't played the first three Metal Gear Solid games. Metal Gear Solid 4 requires a LOT of knowledge from those first three games as it goes through and ties up every loose plot, character and development end. All of this pretty much requires the knowledge of why they are important.

This troper thoroughly enjoyed MGS4 even thogh he had forgotten absolutely everything from MGS1 and 2 and have never played MGS3. MGS4 is perfectly enjoyable as a standalone story, althoguh you'll obviously "get" more of it if you've played the prequels.

That being said, you can download a free MGS Database on the Playstation Network, which explains the plot of the first five games in the series. And the fourth, if you've already beaten it.

Not the main games, but there's so much backstory that it's even being made into games.

This Troper has never owned a PS2 and didn't play the first two games, but owns a DS and would like to play the new one as an introduction to the series. Every KH knowledgeable person the troper has consulted about this plan responds with No Just No.

What's particularly annoying is that the second game in the main series made no sense at points unless you played the Spin-Off. Worse, the next two spinoffs (358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep) are on competing systems, possibly locking out anyone who doesn't own both a DS and PSP.

This Troper needs those links despite having read everything. And to think there was a time when the repeated recaps were tedious.

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